BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
MORE: View results from the Meet of Champions
WESLACO — By doctors’ orders, Leeroy Garcia is supposed to be in a wheelchair. But Garcia, as headstrong as any high school freshman, refuses. He won’t even use crutches. Instead, Garcia is content to walk, albeit with a significant limp.
Garcia was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that affects mobility in the lower body. And while Garcia longs to be treated like everyone else, he recognizes the limits of his condition.
“I never thought I would be an athlete,” Garcia said. “I didn’t think I could compete because of my legs and hips.”
But thanks to the wheelchair, of all things, Garcia took his place alongside fellow Valley-athletes during the Meet of Champions on Saturday at Bobby Lackey Stadium, competing for Weslaco High in the 100 and 400-meter dash wheelchair division.
This is the third year for UIL wheelchair events in track and field and the second year in which Valley Paralympic athletes have competed. Garcia finished the 100 with a time of 28.04 seconds and the 400 in 1:46.00.
Joining Garcia is teammate Joe Solis, a sophomore who competed in the wheelchair division last year. Though Solis bested Garcia in both events, each athlete competes against the clock instead of each other. Solis, who has more mobility in his body, will compete in a different division at the state level, while Garcia will be placed in heats with racers with whom he shares similar times.
“I have a hard time steering,” Garcia said. “I’m not used to being in a wheelchair and aI can’t move my hips very well.”
Rather than using his hips to steer, Garcia guides his way around the track by hand with a steering rod. He says going in a straight line is the most difficult part of racing, but Garcia gets along just fine. His times in the 100 and 400 meet the UIL standard to advance to the state level of competition.
“I’ve been learning a lot from Joe and the coaches at practice,” Garcia said. “I’ve been working hard to try and get better and drop my times.”
Garcia first came to the attention of Weslaco boys coach Gustavo Cabrera during a stint in the gym. Garcia sat in on his older brother’s powerlifting workouts when he was noticed by Cabrera. Along with girls coach Pablo Almaguer, the pair didn’t have to try too hard to convince Garcia to join track.
“I said yes right away,” Garcia said. “I didn’t even have to think about it. It was something I never thought I would do.”
NEAR-RECORD ROBLES
La Joya Palmview’s Brianna Robles ran the second fastest time in Valley history in the girls 3200-meter run Saturday with a time of 10 minutes, 49.57 seconds, bested only by the record of 10:48.69 set by La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Emily Perez in 2012.
Making Robles’ achievement more impressive is the fact she spent part of the final 400 meters seemingly stuck in second place. As Robles entered the backstretch on the final lap behind Edinburg North’s Beth Ramos, a two-second gap separated them. That’s when Robles knew she had to kick.
“It was just a spur of the moment thing,” Robles said. “I just didn’t want to get second. I just kept going and going and didn’t look back.”
Robles followed up her performance in the 3200 with a gold medal finish in the 1600 in 5:06.03. The sophomore will take to the track April 12 and 14 during the District 30-6A championships.
“This race was a good point to get me ready for regionals and to ultimately try and get to state,” Robles said. “I know I have to keep running faster.”
WESLACO SWEEP
The Weslaco boys and girls swept the team standings Saturday during the final pre-district meet of the season. The boys 800 relay team won gold with a time of 1:29.84 while the girls swept all three relay events.
NEXT MEET
The District 31-6A championships will be held Thursday and Saturday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr. Thursday will be comprised of field event finals and track preliminaries, with track finals being held Saturday.